Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that Congress should slow down the development of artificial intelligence (AI) with a possible moratorium on data centers.
Host Jake Tapper said, “Senator, you’re not known for mincing words on any subject, and you certainly haven’t minced them about what you call the unprecedented threats posed by AI. What are you most specifically fearful of?”
Sanders said, “Fearful of a lot, Jake. This is the most consequential technology in the history of humanity. It will transform our country. It will transform the world. And we have not had in Congress, in the media, and I’m glad you’re doing this show, or among the American people, the kind of discussion that we need.”
Sanders said, “While they make huge amounts of money. Well, I think one of the things I think we need to do and right now, among many other things, we‘re seeing data centers sprouting all over the country, raising electric bills for people in the communities, et cetera. I think we need to be thinking seriously about a moratorium on these data centers. Frankly, I think you’ve got to slow this process down. It‘s not good enough for the oligarchs to tell us it‘s coming. You adapt. What are they talking about? They‘re going to guarantee health care to all people. What are they going to do when people have no jobs? What are they going to do? Make housing free? So I think we need to take a deep breath. And I think we need to slow this thing down. One way to do it would probably be a moratorium on data centers.”
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